Chronic Snow Fatigue Syndrome

Chronic Snow Fatigue Syndrome, CSFS, also known by it's street name Can't Stand F*cking Snow is not in the DSM but it should be. I might have made it up but I know it is real because I certainly have it!

Pretty good week this week. Even with the onslaught of winter weather I was able to miraculously fit my runs in between storms. Most of the workouts were a touch slower it seemed (except for Saturday) and I think the weather along with road and trail conditions were to blame.

The week broke down like this:

Monday - Mandatory rest day.

Tuesday - 9 Miles with hill repeats - 1:27:50 - I was not sure how this run was going to go. We got a lot of snow Monday night and I was not sure if the path on Cemetery Lane would be clear or not. I waited until mid-afternoon before heading out and the path was indeed clear. Unfortunately I had waited to late in the day and the sun was behind Red Butte, so the hill-repeat section was in the shade and cold. The workout went well but the three mile cooldown was very slow as my heart-rate was still elevated and I had to go slow in order to keep it lower.

Wednesday - 12 Miles - 1:59:56 - I didn't sleep well Tuesday night and I suspect the workout from Tuesday had me a little beat down. Melissa and I had gone to Glenwood early in the morning to run errands and soak and she dropped me off on Lower River Road and I ran from there the 12 miles to Aspen. It was a rough run, slow, and I was so tired. But even if the run went sort of crappy, I took it as a solid sign that I am indeed getting stronger.

Thursday - 9 Miles - 1:16:22 - Progression run broken into two mile segments. 9 Mile Progression run in 2 mile increments. #1- HR 135-145. #2- HR 145-155. #3- HR 155-165. #4- HR 165+. #5- 1 mile MAF/cool down. I found myself procrastinating as it got closer to lunchtime and time to run as I guess I was fearing what was in store for me. The same as last week. BUT! As badly as I had suffered the day before on this run I felt as if I had just floated. The overall time for the run was a minute slow but that is more due to more climbing than the week before.

Friday - Mandatory rest day. I really don't remember Friday. I know I was glad for the day off.

Saturday - 20 Miles - 2:52:59 - I had three plans going into Saturday's run. The first was to just get it done, stick with the heart rate at MAF and get it done. Then on Friday night or Saturday morning I started getting a little more ambitious and thought that I would run only the first six in Zone 3, marathon pace/effort. When I left the apartment that was the plan but as I got closer to mile six I decided that I wanted to see if I could hang on for the entire 20 miles. And I did! 20 Miles, 2:52:59, avg hr 155, 2710 feet in gain, avg elevation 8106. Hell of a confidence builder. Just one hell of a confidence builder.

Sunday - 10 Miles - 1:32:41 - Treadmill - I figured that I would just stick with the treadmill this week just like last week. My legs felt fine on Sunday morning after the 20 miler but damned if I did not feel tired. Just that overall sensation of fatigue in the body that comes with a few hard weeks of training strung together. Treadmills are not fun but we got a lot of new snow last night and everything was WAY too messy outside to try to do any serious effort running. 

So that was the week... 60 Miles for the week. 9:09:49 for time. And 6076 feet in gain. 

Total miles for February, 255.5. 

The Hoka Mafate Speeds are an awesome shoe. I have liked them so much this past week that I have already ordered a second pair for when these are done.